Electric lock



UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE. E

FREDERICK APITZ, OF LOCKPORT, ILLINOIS.

ELECTRIC LOCK.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 525,400, datedSeptember 4, 1894.

vApplication filed May 3l, 1894- To all whom it may-concern.-

Be it known that I, FREDERICK APITz, a citizen of the United States ofAmerica, residing at Lockport, in the county of Will and State ofIllinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in ElectricAttachments for Door-Locks, of which the following is a specication,reference being had therein to the accompanying drawings and the lettersof reference thereon, forming a part of this specification, in which- YFigure l is'a side view of an ordinary door, showing the lock andelectric wires in broken lines, and the plate to which the circuitbreakers are attached in full lines. Fig. 2. is a perspective viewof anordinary door lock having a portion of one of its sides broken awayexposing to view the bolt, tumbler armature and electro magnet. Fig. 3is a cross section of a portion of a door and its janlb, showing themanner in which the electric wires may come in contact when the door isclosed. Fig. 4 is a face view of the door plate for carrying the circuitbreakers, and a side elevation of the battery, and the electric wiresconnected thereto.v Fig.` 5 represents a portion of the door plateshowing the vedge of one of its switch boards or circuit breakers, and

knob for turning the switch. Fig. 6 is a' back view of the door plateshowing its switches or circuit breakers and wires connected thereto andFig. 7 represents a portion of the door plate showing the edge 'of oneof its switch boards or circuit breakers and knob for turning theswitch.

This invention relates. to certain improvements in electric attachmentsfor door locks by means of which the lock bolt is prevented from beingmoved backward by the key until released by means ofl the electricapparatus, which improvements are fully set forth and explained in thefollowing specification and claims.

The object of this invention is to apply to an ordinary door lock anelectro magnet arranged in such manner that its armature may engage thelock bolt when the electric current is broken, and to release the saidbolt when the electric current is established, which current is brokenor established by means of a switch or a series of switches located atany convenient placein the wire Serial No. 512,990. (No modcl.)

line, said switch being connected to the shank of a knob having an indexpoint moving over a dial, so that the operator must have knowledge ofthe means of setting said index to the proper point on the dial or dialsso as to turn the switches to form a current by making the wirecontinuous.-

Referring to the drawings A represents an ordinary mortise lock having alock boltvB providedV with a notch n in its under side for receiving thelug E on the upper side of the oscillating armature C of the electromagnet o; which may be located in or adjacent to the lock, but is shownin this devi'ce as being attached. to the soft iron arm F attached at Oto the lock ease,l and having the line wire S,

S4 wound on it to form the coil G. The armature is pivoted near itscenter on the pin H, and is weighted at its outer end so as to bring itsopposite end in contact with thelock'bolt when the electric current isbroken.

N is a plate that may be secured to the side of the door T as shown inFig. 1. or at any` other desirable place. This plate is provided with aseries of knobs K having their Shanks :nf journaled in suitable boxes insaid plate, which Shanks have secured on their inner ends yarms L,having wound on their outer ends a coilof wire o, but insulated fromarms L by means of some insulating material W placed between said armand coil asshown in Fig. 5. l n

M are a series of radially arranged ybrass arm plates surrounding eachknob shank x and secured to the back ofy plate N by being screwed ortacked thereto, and over the ends of which the' coil o moves and incontact therewith. The lends of the wires are connected with saidradially arranged plates M by means of having their ends passed undersaid plates, and held in contact therewith by means ofsaid plates beingscrewed or nailed to plate N.

It is intended to have the wires connected totwo adjacent plates M asshown i in Fig. 6 so that when coil/nis moved so as to be in contactwith said two adjacent it will close the electric circuit.

J is an ordinary battery for generating the plates M electric currentwhich may be located at any convenient place near the door. nS isa linewire connecting said batterywith the coil G of the magnet. S is aline/wire connecting wire S3.

said battery with one of the radial plates at the shank of knob P asshown in Fig. 6.

Szis a wire for connecting one of the radial plates M ot knob P adjacentto the one connected with wire S5, with one of said radial plates ofknob P.

Wire S3 is a wire for connecting one of the radial plates M of knob P',adjacent to the one connected with wire S2, with one of said radialplates of knob P2, and wire S4 connects coil G of the magnet with aradial plate of knob P2 adjacent to the one connected with When the armsLof the Shanks of the knobs P. P. P2 are turned as shown in Fig. G so asto cause their coils o to be severally in contact with the two radialplates of each series that are connected with the 'wires as aforesaidthe circuit is closed and armature Gwill be attracted by the magnet andwithdrawn from contact with the bolt B so it may be moved by a key. Tobreak the circuit all that is necessary is to turn one ot' said knobs toa different position from that shown in Fig. 6, so that the coils o ofthe arm L of the knob turned will not connect the two Wires, when themagnet will cease to attract the armature, and it will then engagethelock bolt as shown in Fig. 2. so it cannot be moved by a key. Theface of the plate N has dials with each knob, but instead othavingnumbers on the dials similar to a clock, pins or studs R are used intheir place corre` sponding'in number with the numbers on a clock dial,and the knobs have laterally projecting studs K for being turned topoint to any particular stud R. Fig. 3 shows how the wires may bearranged to permit the door to be opened and closed. The wires may enterthe door through holes leading to the electro magnet, the portion in thedoor being in oontact with the remaining portion only When the door isclosed. The wires S are intended to connect the battery J with twoadjacent radial plates M. of the knob P3, one of which` wires isintended to have an ordinary call bell located somewhere Within itslength and located in some room in the house and used as an alarm, andnot connected with the lock bolt or magnet.

, In operation, supposing the door to be closed and locked and thearmature in the position shown in Fig. 2.50 the lock bolt cannot bemoved backward by a key, caused by the electric circuit being broken.The person desiring to enter and unlock the door must turn the severalknobs P, P', P2 until an electric current is established` ashereinbefore set forth. By having the knowledge of what studR it isnecessary to have-stud K on the knob point at, he can easily turn allthree of the knobs to the proper position to cause the circuit to beclosed as before stated, when the armature will release the bolt B so akey will move it. As the wires may be changed so as to connect with anyothers of the radial plates M. than those shown, the combination can bethus changed quickly so as to cause it to be necessary to leave stud Kstand opposite a dierent stud R. VAs the studs or pinsR are notnumbered, it is intended that the operator will understand that each onerepresents the number corresponding to that position on a clock dial, soit is unnecessary to number these studs R. When locking the door to goaway the said knobs are intended to be turned inV order to break thecircuit in order to cause thearmature to engage the lock bolt as stated.Should a stranger undertake to turn the knobs to establish the circuitwithout previousV knowledge of where to turn them, or how to turn them,he would no doubt not be able to turn them to their proper position, andwould likely also turn the alarm knob P3 and alarm the inmates of thehouse. Ot course any number of circuit breakers like those shown may beused, the` more used making it more diicult for a stranger to use thedevice.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire tosecure by Letters Patent, is as follows:

l. rlhe combination of the lock bolt B.hav ing notch W, armature Opivoted` on stud l'l and having its outer endweighted, electro magnet m,F having the coil G, battery J, wire S for connecting said coil andbattery, knobs P,\P, P2, each having index studs K and shanks arms Lconnected to said shanks at the end opposite the knob, and insulatedcoils'v on the outer ends of said arms, radial plates M,.plate N havingstudsR, wires S3, S4, S5 for connecting coil Gr with battery J throughthe'medium of said radial plates, all arranged to operate substantiallyas and for the purpose set forth.

2. In an electric attachment for door locks a circuit breaker comprisingthe combination ot'` the plate N having the dial pins or studs R, knobhaving the index` stud K and.` shank so', arm L secured on said shankand having the insulated coil/U on its outer end radial plates M, andthe wires for connecting said radial plates with an electro magnet and abattery all arranged to operate substantially as andl for the purposeset forth.

FREDERICK APITZ.

Witnesses:

THos. H. HUTCHINS, HERBERT COWELL.

IOI

